Criminal Defence

Additional Information

Tom has been an active member of the York Region criminal bar for 30 years. He has tried many cases in both the Provincial Court and the Superior Court (including several jury trials), and he has obtained excellent results for many clients over many years. He understands, however, that court matters cost money, and his approach is generally to try to deal with the charges on their merits in a cost-effective manner.

Tom acted as a Standing Agent for the Federal Crown from 2005 to 2016, during which time he dealt with hundreds of drug prosecutions. He therefore has significant expertise in this area of the law. Often criminal court difficulties are rooted in underlying problems with substance abuse, mental health issues, and anger control issues. Tom is very familiar with the resources available to deal with these problems, and is able to use these resources in a way which can positively impact the court process.

Tom is happy to provide a free initial consultation with respect to your criminal case. Of course, every criminal case is different, and some knowledge about the case is needed to sensibly quote a fee. In some cases, an hourly rate approach works best (typically when the amount of time to be spent is hard to quantify in advance). In other cases, a block fee can be quoted. Tom tries to be fair in setting fees and in some cases can set up installment payment plans. In other cases, Tom will accept payment through Legal Aid Ontario.